EU-ZEM Project

The ZEM project addresses the development of a monitoring system to verify the integrity of composite high pressure tanks for natural gas or hydrogen. Stationary and mobile applications are considered and a demonstrator related to vehicle propulsion will be developed. Currently proposed inspection techniques of composite vessels involve off-vehicle visual inspection and pressure testing which is labour intensive and requires expensive equipment. The proposed approach, based on fibre optic sensors, facilitates simple but detailed evaluation of the structural integrity, monitored on-line during tank refuelling. The aims are to eliminate the requirement for periodical inspection through different levels of monitoring on-board, at the refilling station and at the garage.The project focuses in particular fibre optic sensors and their embedding in the material, composite tank manufacturing, signature recognition algorithms and interrogation methods.The sensors are embedded between the last carbon layer and protection layer, and the SOFO system was used.